Thursday, February 26, 2009

For this week’s blog, a few more catchy terms that will probably draw blank or quizzical expressions – but may however endear you to a certain small sliver of the population.

ユニバレ (yunibare)

This combines “yuni”and “bare.” Yuni is the first bit of Uniqlo, the Japanese low-cost apparel company. Bare is from the Japanese very ばれる（bareru）, which means to expose, become known. Thus, “yunibare” is when your friends or people around you realize you are wearing very inexpensive clothing.

おもてなし婚 (omotenashi kon)

“Omotenashi” is what restaurants, inns, and bars do – take care, welcome, please their clients. “Kon” is the second half of 結婚（けっこん、 wedding, marriage）. Thus, “omotenashi kon” is a wedding that has pleasing the guests as its highest priority.

カレセン (karesen) refers to women in their mid- to late-30s who prefer men in their 50s or older. This is a play on words. かれ（kare, which means "he" or "him"）can mean 彼（かれ、he）- which is used in 彼氏（kareshi, boyfriend）- or 枯れ （かれ、withered）.

The second half is 専（sen）, which means expert or specialist.

Last is slang based in Kanto, particularly in Shibuya: チョリース（chori-su）. This is “hello,” “right, got it,” “I understand.”Allegedly, television talent Yukina Kinoshita was the originator of the term. From these humble beginnings, the term spread.